diff --git a/cypress/e2e/SessionApi.spec.js b/cypress/e2e/SessionApi.spec.js
index 3a3276fc483..863efede0c7 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/SessionApi.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/e2e/SessionApi.spec.js
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 					const version = 0
 					cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps, version })
 						.its('version')
-						.should('eql', 1)
+						.should('be.at.least', 1)
 					cy.syncSteps(connection)
 						.its('steps[0].data')
 						.should('eql', steps)
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 		it('saves', function() {
 			cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps: [messages.update], version })
 				.its('version')
-				.should('eql', 1)
+				.should('be.at.least', 1)
 			cy.syncSteps(connection, { version: 1, autosaveContent: '# Heading 1', manualSave: true })
 			cy.downloadFile(filePath)
 				.its('data')
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 			const documentState = 'Base64 encoded string'
 			cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps: [messages.update], version })
 				.its('version')
-				.should('eql', 1)
+				.should('be.at.least', 1)
 			cy.syncSteps(connection, {
 				version: 1,
 				autosaveContent: '# Heading 1',
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 		it('saves public', function() {
 			cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps: [messages.update], version })
 				.its('version')
-				.should('eql', 1)
+				.should('be.at.least', 1)
 			cy.syncSteps(connection, { version: 1, autosaveContent: '# Heading 1', manualSave: true })
 			cy.login(user)
 			cy.prepareSessionApi()
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 			const documentState = 'Base64 encoded string'
 			cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps: [messages.update], version })
 				.its('version')
-				.should('eql', 1)
+				.should('be.at.least', 1)
 			cy.syncSteps(connection, {
 				version: 1,
 				autosaveContent: '# Heading 1',
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 			let joining
 			cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps: [messages.update], version })
 				.its('version')
-				.should('eql', 1)
+				.should('be.at.least', 1)
 			cy.createTextSession(undefined, { filePath: '', shareToken })
 				.then(con => {
 					joining = con
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ describe('The session Api', function() {
 			cy.log('Initial user pushes steps')
 			cy.pushSteps({ connection, steps: [messages.update], version })
 				.its('version')
-				.should('eql', 1)
+				.should('be.at.least', 1)
 			cy.log('Other user creates session')
 			cy.createTextSession(undefined, { filePath: '', shareToken })
 				.then(con => {
diff --git a/lib/Db/Step.php b/lib/Db/Step.php
index 92ae39d2d08..0898f515ee9 100644
--- a/lib/Db/Step.php
+++ b/lib/Db/Step.php
@@ -37,8 +37,17 @@
  * @method setDocumentId(int $documentId): void
  */
 class Step extends Entity implements JsonSerializable {
+
+	/*
+	 * Transition: We now use the auto-incrementing id as the version.
+	 * To ensure that new steps always have a larger version than those that
+	 * used the version field, use the largest possible value for BIGINT.
+	 */
+	public const VERSION_STORED_IN_ID = 18446744073709551615;
+
+	public $id = null;
 	protected string $data = '';
-	protected int $version = 0;
+	protected int $version = self::VERSION_STORED_IN_ID;
 	protected int $sessionId = 0;
 	protected int $documentId = 0;
 
@@ -54,10 +63,13 @@ public function jsonSerialize(): array {
 		if (\json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
 			throw new \InvalidArgumentException('Failed to parse step data');
 		}
+		$version = $this->version === self::VERSION_STORED_IN_ID
+			? $this->id
+			: $this->getVersion();
 		return [
 			'id' => $this->id,
 			'data' => $jsonData,
-			'version' => $this->version,
+			'version' => $version,
 			'sessionId' => $this->sessionId
 		];
 	}
diff --git a/lib/Db/StepMapper.php b/lib/Db/StepMapper.php
index 85838c36fc8..39cb1baea37 100644
--- a/lib/Db/StepMapper.php
+++ b/lib/Db/StepMapper.php
@@ -33,19 +33,16 @@ public function __construct(IDBConnection $db) {
 		parent::__construct($db, 'text_steps', Step::class);
 	}
 
-	public function find($documentId, $fromVersion, $lastAckedVersion = null) {
+	public function find($documentId, $fromVersion) {
 		/* @var $qb IQueryBuilder */
 		$qb = $this->db->getQueryBuilder();
 		$qb->select('*')
 			->from($this->getTableName())
 			->where($qb->expr()->eq('document_id', $qb->createNamedParameter($documentId)))
-			->andWhere($qb->expr()->gt('version', $qb->createNamedParameter($fromVersion)));
-		if ($lastAckedVersion) {
-			$qb->andWhere($qb->expr()->lte('version', $qb->createNamedParameter($lastAckedVersion)));
-		}
+			->andWhere($qb->expr()->gt('version', $qb->createNamedParameter($fromVersion)))
+			->andWhere($qb->expr()->gt('id', $qb->createNamedParameter($fromVersion)));
 		$qb
 			->setMaxResults(1000)
-			->orderBy('version')
 			->orderBy('id');
 
 		return $this->findEntities($qb);
@@ -54,11 +51,11 @@ public function find($documentId, $fromVersion, $lastAckedVersion = null) {
 	public function getLatestVersion($documentId): ?int {
 		/* @var $qb IQueryBuilder */
 		$qb = $this->db->getQueryBuilder();
-		$result = $qb->select('version')
+		$result = $qb->select('id')
 			->from($this->getTableName())
 			->where($qb->expr()->eq('document_id', $qb->createNamedParameter($documentId)))
 			->setMaxResults(1)
-			->orderBy('version', 'DESC')
+			->orderBy('id', 'DESC')
 			->execute();
 
 		$data = $result->fetch();
@@ -66,7 +63,7 @@ public function getLatestVersion($documentId): ?int {
 			return null;
 		}
 
-		return $data['version'];
+		return $data['id'];
 	}
 
 	public function deleteAll($documentId): void {
@@ -76,11 +73,12 @@ public function deleteAll($documentId): void {
 			->executeStatement();
 	}
 
+	// not in use right now
 	public function deleteBeforeVersion($documentId, $version): void {
 		$qb = $this->db->getQueryBuilder();
 		$qb->delete($this->getTableName())
 			->where($qb->expr()->eq('document_id', $qb->createNamedParameter($documentId)))
-			->andWhere($qb->expr()->lte('version', $qb->createNamedParameter($version)))
+			->andWhere($qb->expr()->lte('id', $qb->createNamedParameter($version)))
 			->executeStatement();
 	}
 
@@ -89,6 +87,7 @@ public function deleteAfterVersion($documentId, $version): int {
 		return $qb->delete($this->getTableName())
 			->where($qb->expr()->eq('document_id', $qb->createNamedParameter($documentId)))
 			->andWhere($qb->expr()->gt('version', $qb->createNamedParameter($version)))
+			->andWhere($qb->expr()->gt('id', $qb->createNamedParameter($version)))
 			->executeStatement();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/Service/DocumentService.php b/lib/Service/DocumentService.php
index 1bf5f8b1fec..6a59640f7ab 100644
--- a/lib/Service/DocumentService.php
+++ b/lib/Service/DocumentService.php
@@ -274,15 +274,14 @@ private function insertSteps($documentId, $sessionId, $steps, $version): int {
 				throw new InvalidArgumentException('Failed to encode steps');
 			}
 			$stepsVersion = $this->stepMapper->getLatestVersion($document->getId());
-			$newVersion = $stepsVersion + count($steps);
-			$this->logger->debug("Adding steps to $documentId: bumping version from $stepsVersion to $newVersion");
-			$this->cache->set('document-version-' . $document->getId(), $newVersion);
 			$step = new Step();
 			$step->setData($stepsJson);
 			$step->setSessionId($sessionId);
 			$step->setDocumentId($documentId);
-			$step->setVersion($newVersion);
-			$this->stepMapper->insert($step);
+			$step = $this->stepMapper->insert($step);
+			$newVersion = $step->getId();
+			$this->logger->debug("Adding steps to " . $documentId . ": bumping version from $stepsVersion to $newVersion");
+			$this->cache->set('document-version-' . $documentId, $newVersion);
 			// TODO write steps to cache for quicker reading
 			return $newVersion;
 		} catch (DoesNotExistException $e) {